


Salt Water Summer

by Underestimated_amateur



Category: Original Work
Genre: Absent Parents, Angst, Broken Families, Fluff, Gen, Hospitals, Hurt/Comfort, Non-Linear Narrative, POV First Person, Parents not mentioned, Protective Siblings, Sibling Bonding, Siblings, Vacation, Written for a Class
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-16
Updated: 2018-01-16
Packaged: 2019-03-05 17:17:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13392537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Underestimated_amateur/pseuds/Underestimated_amateur
Summary: Just two kids caught up in something they can't control. The first breather they get in weeks is well deserved.-I groan dramatically, flopping down on my back in the sand. He sputters when I drag him down with me, falling less than gracefully onto his stomach. “Don’t wanna,” I whine, grinning over at him as he sits up on his knees. He ruffles his hair, the sand that had been stuck in his golden locks scattering out around him. Most of it lands onto me, but I don’t care enough to brush them off. My gaze shifts to the water as Tyler complains more. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen the ocean or felt sand between my toes. The water is so blue and deep. The sea is vast, stretching on and on for miles, making me wonder if it ever truly ends. There’s angry gray clouds brewing off into the distance on the right, promising a storm. We probably can’t stay long, I think sadly.I wish we could stay forever.





	Salt Water Summer

The door angrily slams shut, the sound echoing throughout the hotel room. There the last of them go.

Good riddance.

I turn to the television, a cartoon I've long since grown out of is playing on the small screen. The plot’s lost on me, but it gives me an excuse not to look at the door my grandfather just stormed out of. There's a soft sniffle next to me on the messy bed, a small body huddles against my side. He's wrapped in the covers, my little brother, and stares at the characters dancing across the screen too. I take note of the tiny pools collecting in his pretty baby blues, but don't speak of them. I'm not disappointed in my family, because to be disappointed in them for screaming at each other and running off, I'd have to be surprised. With our family it's never a surprise none of us ever get along, even on vacation. To be disappointed in my older brother and grandparents, I'd have to believe anything they do doesn't involve fighting and leaving. I don't. So, I’m not disappointed. I’m angry they left an upset ten-year-old in some dirty hotel room in some state without a second thought. They probably won’t be back till late. I’m irritated Tyler was looking forward to this; to the beach, to South Carolina, and they  _ ruined _  it like everything else. He deserved South Carolina after everything that’s happening back home. He deserved to find some sort of happiness here he could take back with him.

Now he’s crying in some cheap hotel room.

I get up from the bed, throwing the remote down in my place after turning off the tv. It bounces once, twice, but doesn’t fall to the floor. I pull out the drawers of the nightstand, rummaging through each of them before I find one of the spare room keys. I grab the towel I brought with me and steal one of my grandmother’s, shoving both into my handbag with a camera and my phone.

“Sis,” Tyler calls from across the room, still cocoon in bed covers and blankets. His voice quivers, scared and confused. “Where are you going?”

“ _ We’re _  going to the beach,” I correct, not looking over my shoulder as I dig around in my bag. “That’s where you wanted to go the most right? We can go together: just you and me.”

I hear him jump off the bed, feet slapping against the hardwood floor as he jogs over to me. “Really!?”

“Yeah, bud. Go get changed.”

He cheers, gloomy clouds gone for now, and scrambles to get into his swimming trunks. I change into my suit, hidden under my clothes, and meet him at the door. The way he rocks back and forth on his heels, excited and impatient, makes me smile. There’s the obnoxious little brother that gets on my nerves. We head out, making sure to close the door all the way. Tyler runs ahead every hallway, waiting for me at the end of each one before taking off to the next one. He demands he mans the elevator’s buttons and I let him have it. A city, no matter where, is always busy, so I tell him to hold my hand while crossing the streets no matter how much he insists he’s big enough not to. The beach isn’t far from the hotel, you can see it from our window. We race towards the waters, fingers interlocked, letting our feet sink into the hot sand. We find a spot in the shade where the shore can’t burn our toes and set our stuff down. Tyler’s in the water a second later. Blink and you’d miss him. I heard his loud yelp all the way from where I’m sitting when a wave of cold water smacks into him. I laugh as the ocean spits him out and he lands on his butt in the muddy sand. He gets to his feet and trots to me before the evil sea can strike again.

“Come on!” He grabs my hand and tries to pull me up, making frustrated noises when I don’t comply. “Swim with me!”

I groan dramatically, flopping down on my back instead. He sputters when I drag him down with me, falling less than gracefully onto his stomach. “Don’t wanna,” I whine, grinning over at him as he sits up on his knees. He ruffles his hair, the sand that had been stuck in his golden locks scattering out around him. Most of it lands onto me, but I don’t care enough to brush them off. My gaze shifts to the water as Tyler complains more. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen the ocean or felt sand between my toes. The water is so blue and deep. The sea is vast, stretching on and on for miles, making me wonder if it ever truly ends. There’s angry gray clouds brewing off into the distance on the right, promising a storm. We probably can’t stay long, I think sadly. I wish we could stay forever. Here it’s peaceful and adventure seems to be around every corner if a person looks. We’re miles away from the chaos our lives are in right now. A part of me never wants to leave.

“She’s going to be okay right?”

I jolt out of my thoughts, coming back to myself, to us. I blink over at my brother in confusion. He isn’t looking back at me, his eyes stare at the mix of blue hues of the offing. His thighs press against his chest and his arms are wrapped around his legs. He looks so small. His smile’s gone along with the twinkle in his pretty blues. “Mamaw. Is Mamaw going to be okay?” He tries again.

I can’t swallow down the lump in my throat, it’s stuck there along with my words. I never learned how comfort works. Do I lie here? Pat him on the back, slap on a cheap two-dollar smile and pretend as if I would know the answer? Like any of the people that’s been passing me around week after week has told me anything?

“I,” my words come out unsure and weak, “I don’t know, bud.”

“I miss her,” he sobs, the dams in his eyes burst and he crumbles into himself more. “I miss her so much. I miss you so much. I want to go home. I just want all of us to be okay and go home.”

My heart shatters as I try to find the words to say. My mind flashes back to two weeks ago. The clean smell of the hospital still stings my nose if I think about it too hard. We were there for maybe twenty minutes before doctors were rushing the two of us out of her room while explaining visiting hours are over. She’s laying in her bed, unconscious. She hadn’t even been awake the entire time we were there. One of the doctors tried to explain, I can’t remember anything about them other than their ugly lime green shirt. My ears caught “car”, “wreck”, and something about “lucky to survive.” Everything else was white noise. As we shuffled out into the hallway, trying to find our way back to the rest of our family, Tyler finally broke down. I could tell it was coming before it happened. He had been trying to stay strong around our grandmother even if she wasn’t awake to see him. We’re a small little family; just Tyler and me, and our grandmother who adopted us when we were both really young. It’s small, but it’s all we’ve ever really known. And now it’s falling apart.

With Mamaw in the hospital, we were split up. Can’t live in a home without an adult, and all that. Tyler went to our other grandparents, he’s been there ever since. My situation is… less permanent than his. So far I’ve been in three homes of relatives I hardly know. No one can keep me for long for whatever reason or excuse. I don’t mind being handed around like a bowl of chips at a party. More than anything I just miss my family. My real family; Tyler and Mamaw. This is the first in weeks I’ve seen my little brother. The little fact hurts more than I try to let on.

“Me too, Ty, me too,” I say, wrapping an arm around him. That seems to be an invitation for him to cling to me. I let his arms coil around me like a squid and don’t push him off when he gets my chest wet with tears and snot. I stay silent as he cries it out while I keep my own tears at bay. He doesn’t need to see me break. Right now he needs someone strong to lean on.

_ Stay strong,  _ I repeat in my head,  _ stay strong. _

“It’s going to be okay,” I tell him.

“You don’t know that,” he shoots back, sniffling against my collarbone.

“I don’t know if Mamaw’s going to be okay,” I reiterate, “but I know we will.”

I run my hand through his wet hair that resembles muddy sand. “Things are really bad right now. You’re scared. I’m scared. Nobody seems to know what’s going to happen. And that’s okay. Because, whatever happens, I’m always going to be here, okay? We’re in this together, no matter what. No one’s ever going to get in the way between us. We’re still family, nothing changes that. I’m always going to be here for you, alright? I promise.”

He blinks up at me, baby blues twinkling with something like hope for the first time. “Yeah?” He croaks, his voice rough from crying.

I nod and peck the crown of his head. We sit there for a few more moments, enjoying each other's company. Being a ten-year-old that he is; though, Tyler can't stay still for long. Soon he's yanking at my arm again, urging me I come swim with him. This time I give in to his demands, letting myself be pulled along in the water. We spend the rest of our time splashing each other, taking pictures, looking for shells, and playing in the sand. We didn’t have a baggy or anything of the sort to put our little treasures we found in, and I was worried they’d be crushed if we just threw them in my backpack. So we upt to use Tyler’s shirt has a makeshift carrying device instead. He didn’t seem to mind going without one.

By the time we begin to tire out, the sun was leaving the sky. In its place rose dark clouds that glare down upon us as it pelts us with heavy rain. In the midst of the storm, we race back to the hotel to take shelter from the howling wind and crackling thunder. When we’re huddled inside; safe, I realize that no one else is back yet. Still just the two of us then.

We take turns taking a shower and changing into our pajamas. I hang our suits and towels up for them to dry and place our shells by the sink to wash later. After Tyler is out of the bath and clean, I gently rub lotion on his back, legs, and arms to help soothe his sunburns. While we wait for the canned spaghetti I put on to cook, Tyler takes to the task of brushing my wet hair as we watch tv. There weren’t any more cartoons on at this time of night, so we settle for reruns of old game shows to occupy our time. We swaddle up in blankets on the bed we have to share, the screen of the television illuminating our faces in the otherwise dark room. It isn’t long, after countless Family Feuds and bellies full of spaghetti we had to eat out of the pot because there weren’t any bowls, do we start to pack it in. We both curl into the covers, snuggling close together because the room is so cold, but each of us individually are warm. I keep the tv on, because Tyler’s still afraid of the dark. As I watch him sigh into his pillow, my mind runs wild. I didn’t realize just how much I missed him until I got to see him again.

“Hey, Tyler?” I whisper, in case he’s already asleep.

“Yeah?” Comes a sleepy muffled response.

“Are you happy?”

His eyes flutter open and I’m slowly greeted with confused blue oceans. I don’t know why I asked, not quite sure where the question came from in the first place. But the more Tyler silently stares at me, the more I find myself wanting to know. Did he have fun today at all?

Tyler smiles, small and tired, but warmly, and I feel my anxiety start to fade.

“I’m always happy when I’m with you, sis.”

Just like that the dark room seems brighter and my chest is a little less heavy. I grin and capture him into a tight hug, curling around him like a koala to a tree trunk. He giggles and squeezes me back. I try to keep my sniffles quiet, not wanting him to know a started tearing up.

The thing is, life isn’t always light and colorful. Family isn’t always strong and close. Sometimes bad things happen and you’re left with having to endure the hardships of the aftermath. Our family never gets along, even during celebrations or vacations. With our Grandmother in the hospital, we didn’t feel like we had a home anymore. Almost everyday during that summer was a struggle. The day my brother, Tyler, and I spent together was our last day in South Carolina. By next morning we all were already packed and heading home. I’d be staying with another relative and Tyler would still be over at our grandparents. Our vacation didn’t change our situation back in Indianapolis, but that’s okay. We brought back happiness with us. Because sometimes happiness isn’t the place you go or the things you do, it’s the people you’re with that make it matter. We find happiness in each other, and we carried all the way back home in our hearts. To this day, it’s still there.

 

 

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**Author's Note:**

> I tried a hand in first person pov and writing original work (aka non-fanfiction). 
> 
> I wrote this for a class and liked it enough to post on here. What do you think? I actually plan to write more original stories in the future. Any feedback is nice and strongly appreciated. 
> 
> Until next time!


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